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United Kingdom

Hey,
First off if this question has already been answered I'm sorry.
I'm enjoying learning about the science behind giant pumpkins and I set two pumpkins on my plant one 1' from main root and 1 at 10' and the 1' one grew bigger and quicker but I culled it as everywhere says it needs to be at least 10' out. Trying to understand why please?
Thank-you in advance,
Ian

7/23/2014 4:51:48 AM

Goodwood, Ontario, Canada

I believe the answer is simply that a pumpkin has a finite number of days to grow once it is pollinated and therefore growers set their pumpkins out at least 10' so that the pumpkin receives the benefit of a greater leaf coverage from day one of pollination

7/23/2014 7:57:04 AM

Goodwood, Ontario, Canada

I believe the answer is simply that a pumpkin has a finite number of days to grow once it is pollinated and therefore growers set their pumpkins out at least 10' so that the pumpkin receives the benefit of a greater leaf coverage from day one of pollination

7/23/2014 7:57:04 AM

hamilton,Ontario

also the tap roots, lots of extra feedfor a bigger pumpkin.....

7/23/2014 9:40:43 AM

Stanwood, Washington

It is easier for the nutrients to move out and away from the stump than it is for them to mave backwards. Growers like to have the fruit out at 10-14' because there is more plant behind the fruit. This has been determined over the years with lots of trial and error. The pumpkin closer to the stump may have started faster but if you had let it grow it likely would have peaked early and tapered off faster than a fruit farther out.

7/23/2014 12:16:42 PM

BC, Canada

The leaf and root mass behind the fruit is th e"engine" that drives it. Small engine, small fruit going to fair.
Xylem carries the water and absorbed nutrients from the roots to the leaves and fruit, xylem is dead tissue. So, remembering that xylem is what brings most of the food to your leaves and pumpkin and it is dead tissue, there will not be anymore of it made behind the pumpkin. This means you want a large mass of it there to start off.
Phloem on the other hand is living tissue and transports food made by the leaves around the plant and will continue to grow ahead of the fruit, but doesn't bring any nutriments from the ground.
It would kind of be like eating soup with a fork.

7/23/2014 12:27:36 PM

Colorado

Interesting info c search. Can one infer from your xylem explanation that there can be a too far out on the main to maximize ca++ to the fruit from the main root system.

7/23/2014 12:36:49 PM

United Kingdom

Wow,
Some interesting answers and special thanks to "cavitysearch" I'm going to read up on that.
Thanks everyone,
All the best,
Ian

7/23/2014 4:19:07 PM

Germany

If you find out some details about the 1104 Wallace 12 you will have the impression that the plant material beyond the fruit is also as precious as the plant between stump and fruit.

7/23/2014 4:30:49 PM

Germany

http://www.bigpumpkins.com/MsgBoard/ViewThread.asp?b=3&p=461263

(the lines Pap has written about the fruit on his 1409 Miller plant)

7/23/2014 4:32:33 PM

BC, Canada

Joe, I think that all the side vines up to the fruit are still pulling nutrients from the soil, via xylem, so there would be ca getting there. However, the roots at the stump and the first few side vines tend to be larger than those that grow later in my experience. And those first roots are really established and working. How far nutrients can travel in a vine I don't know. There has been a lot written here about ca transport in the plant. I'm no expert on that. Also if you are setting a fruit farther out the season has progressed, temps are changing, daylight is shortening etc. so there are a number of factors that come into play.
Pumpking, Thanks, I remember reading that at the time. I always let my vine continue to grow, at least until it gets to be in the way. Yes, the leaves are making food for the plant that is transported via the phloem to other areas of the plant, fruit included.

7/23/2014 6:42:56 PM

Lodi, California

I though that the original argument for this was that a pumpkin needs a certian ammount of vine, or else it will pull the main root out of the ground? As the pumpkin grows up, it needs that extra slack to that the main root is not pulled up with it. This is what I have heard, though I also agree with the above answers.

7/23/2014 7:28:34 PM

Eastern Pennsylvania

Pull the main root out of the ground? Impossible in any situation. If you have a fruit one foot out on the main the pumpkins stem would break and that would be it.

7/23/2014 9:00:22 PM